Sunday, September 28, 2008

The Milwaukee Brewers

Today, the Milwaukee Brewers won a place in the play-offs. Ronnie called to tell me and said that the last time this happened was in 1982. I remember that year well. The Cardinals won the World Series, and, as Ronnie thoughtfully pointed out, it was the year we started going out (the first time).

Just a few minutes later, I was back in the car and listening to whatever was on NPR and they mentioned that the baseball season came down to the wire. The Mets lost and the Brewers won and that meant the Brewers were in the playoffs for the first time in 26 years.

Now, remember that I was driving. Thankfully I was on a side street and could pull over abruptly. How can 1982 be 26 years ago? That cannot be. It's a physical impossibiity. 26 years is a really long time, and while it's fine for the interval between play-off runs (I know it's not, if you're a Brewer's fan, but I'm thinking existentially here), it's not for the length of time for any other number of things, including 1982.

I refuse to believe that 1982 and 26 years ago can occupy the same temporal space. Being a fan of science fiction (or speculative fiction, if you prefer), I know that 1982 does not always have to be 26 years ago. In other dimensions, 1982 could be last year, or even yesterday. And as long as we're speculating, it could be next week. In fact, I'm sure of it.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Start getting used to it....;-) I'm still reeling over how YOU could be three years OLDER than ME!

The Whiner said...

Nice piece, sweetie. This is where I usually try to write something clever, but that's all I've got for now.

Andrea said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Just a few hours ago, I was talking to my mom about when I broke my arm - 25 YEARS AGO!!! I'm totally with you here.

Anonymous said...

1982 was a good vintage. All the crawford street brothers starting going out with their future wives that year. The passage of time is
absolutely a perception.
Jews will be celebrating the birthday of the world come Monday night. In Hebrew school you learn that G-d created the world in 7 days. In science you learn that it took millions of years for wo/man to evolve.
Hey, just a few months ago we were at Mount Sinai
Enjoy the moment!

Anonymous said...

Correction. G-d created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th.

Andrea said...

Lori - great perspective, thanks! And Raina, you don't look a day over 24, so I'm not sure how you broke your arm so long ago!